Five life-changing things that I learned from working as a therapist

Five life-changing things that I learned from working as a therapist

Working as a therapist is a transformational thing. In connecting with client after client, and in watching them overcome their own mental demons, this job (re)teaches me on a daily basis how to live a freer, closer and more satisfying life.

Over five posts here, I’d like to share with you five of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned.

1. People really can change

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
– Anaïs Nin, French-born novelist and essayist.

If you type “People don’t…” into Google, its first guess for the completion of your sentence will be “… change.” The world seems to want us to believe this, but the idea is quite ludicrous. If people didn’t change, then we’d all still be running around in our Spiderman jumpsuits trying to deface our little sister’s My Little Ponies (just me?).

Of course we change. We’re changing every moment of every day. Our brains literally, physically change to accommodate new information. Yes, you read that right — our brains actually change shape to program-in new ideas. Think something like “life is brilliant” every morning, and before long, you’ll have a bespoke brain made for thinking about life’s brilliance. On top of that, our cells regenerate, our values reorganise themselves, and we make (and break) habits all the time… We are evolving things. Change is what we do.

Working as a therapist means that I get to witness people changing on a daily basis. I see clients letting go of phobias, addictions and other issues that have plagued their lives for decades. Over the years, those experiences have strengthened my faith in my own ability to evolve when I want to. It’s not always easy, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than I once thought it would be, because my clients have hypnotised me into believing that change really is possible.

So, if there’s something that you think you’re stuck with, then fear not. You probably aren’t.

By Hazel Gale

Author of FIGHT, cognitive hypnotherapist and former kickboxing world champion.